Occipital Structure Sensor Mark II: First mobile 3D scanning platform grows up
This next generation in mobile 3D scanning hardware was revealed today by the folks at Occipital. They've shown the Occipital Structure Sensor Mark II, a device that's 50% smaller than their previous sensor, with a whole lot more power and precision. This new unit has a new set of custom optics, an onboard IMU, a new depth processing chip, and a new ultra-wide vision camera. All of this rolls with compatibility for iOS devices – with an eye for your iPad, more than likely.
What is this thing?
Wait, you might be saying, what am I looking at here? This is the newest version of the "world's first 3D scanning platform for mobile devices." The original version was the Structure Sensor ST01, launched all the way back in the year 2014. Since then, the original hardware's been employed on a wide variety of projects, including the scanning of medical patient limbs (in just a few minutes) to create custom orthotics and prosthetics.
Below you'll see a bit of information on the first version (on the right side) and the new version (Mark II). Notice how massive the changes are at the same time as the platform's been reduced in size by a significant factor.
Structure Sensor (Mark II) will be what you'll find the newest hardware listed as, while the original is now called either "the original Structure Sensor (ST01)" or just "original Structure Sensor" by Occipital and the inevitable news stories after today.
What else is different this time?
Apple acquired PrimeSense in the year 2013. Before this, they used several components originally developed by PrimeSense to create their first Structure Sensor. Using what they've learned since the original launch of the first Structure Sensor, they've "started from scratch, and created a new product where every aspect is refined, from resolution to precision, and introduced new sensory inputs, all while reducing the size dramatically."
The new product uses a 38% thinner, 31% lighter form factor than the previous Structure Sensor. This new product uses the Structure SDK and delivers higher-quality 3D scanning than ever before. That includes environment mapping as well as 6-DoF position tracking for both new and existing use cases.
First Availability and Release Dates
To obtain the Structure Sensor (Mark II), users will need to head to Structure.IO right now, or find the hardware through resellers worldwide soon. Preorders through Structure's online store will begin "next week" (that's the week starting with July 29, 2019), and the first orders will start to ship in August of 2019.
Other Occipital 3D sensing platforms
With the Structure Sensor Mark II, the company's built the next generation of 3D sensing using the same underlying sensing platform as Structure Core. With the launch of this product, the company now has sensing offerings on each of the major platforms out on the market today: iOS, Mac, Windows, Linux (ARM and x86), and Android.
For the first generation you've got Structure Sensor (ST01) that works with iOS only. For Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android, you've got the device known as Structure CORE. Both can be found at Structure.IO with the new sensor this week. See more about Occipital's other 3D sensing news and products in the timeline below!